Decoding to Discourse, 6-12: An MTSS Guidebook for Adolescent Reading and Academic Writing

"That′s an elementary problem" is no longer an answer.

Every middle and high school has them: students who can decode the words but not navigate the dense sentences, specialized vocabulary, and multi-source arguments of secondary coursework. Their struggles are often dismissed as unfinished elementary business. Yet secondary literacy requires its own instruction, and many students have never received explicit instruction in those demands.

Decoding to Discourse, 6–12 is an MTSS playbook for closing that gap. Organized around the seven interconnected domains of academic vocabulary, sentence craft, text structure, evidence and argument, synthesis, writing process, and metacognition, it offers 154 classroom-ready strategies for teachers, coaches, and interventionists. Practitioner-scholar Dr. Anthony Fitzpatrick helps educators

• Pinpoint why adolescent readers struggle, from syntax and morphology to comprehension
• Use four Literacy Bridges to connect foundational skills to disciplinary literacy
• Move students from Surface to Deep to Transfer learning with tiered strategies
• Build a shared literacy vocabulary across grade levels and departments
• Teach syntax, evidence use, argument, and synthesis in any content area

A companion to the K–5 volume that also stands on its own, Decoding to Discourse, 6–12 helps middle and secondary educators teach students to read complex texts, write with precision, and use evidence to reason across subjects.